


Something We Both Wanted (Wish You Were Here)

by shanachie



Series: What Familes are Made Of [1]
Category: 9-1-1 (TV), Chicago Fire
Genre: Crossover, Decisions, Gen, Making Dreams Come True, Surprises, fulfilling a promise
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-24
Updated: 2020-11-08
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:33:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 7,261
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25476958
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shanachie/pseuds/shanachie
Summary: Kelly Severide never thought he'd be able to keep the promise he made to Leslie Shay, but things have a habit of happening when you least expect it.
Relationships: Kelly Severide & Leslie Shay, implied Eddie Diaz/Evan "Buck" Buckley
Series: What Familes are Made Of [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1901308
Comments: 37
Kudos: 69





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kitkat0723](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kitkat0723/gifts).



> Even though this isn't finished, I'm going to start posting it today. I'll either post a chapter a week-ish or post all of it when it's done.
> 
> This is completely the fault of kitkat0723. She told me to watch the show, she squealed with me over Kelly and Shay and everyone... so this is of course for her. Happy birthday!

“Hey,” Casey stopped, his attention caught by Severide who was staring at his phone. “What’s going on?”

Severide set the phone down before picking it up almost immediately. “It’s nothing.”

“Sev, come on.” Casey nudged his shoulder. “You find some new girl?”

Severide laughed shortly. “No. Not even close.”

Casey motioned out towards the apron. “Let’s take a walk.”

Severide stood up, shoving his hands in his pockets as he wandered after Casey. Outside, Severide stared up at the sky for a minute before speaking, “The clinic called me.”

Casey frowned. “You have some tests done?”

“No.” Severide shook his head. “Not that type of clinic. The… ah…” He took a deep breath. He lowered his gaze and stared at the ground. “It was the clinic I went to with Shay for her baby.”

“Oh. _Oh_!” Casey’s eyes widened. “What did they want?”

“They did an… inventory. With Shay gone, the decision about the eggs lands on me.” He looked at Casey. “They’re still viable.”

“So, you have to what…?”

“Decide if I want to let them die or have them implanted.” He sighed. “I don’t have to take them. If I want, they can use them for a couple who can’t have their own.”

“And if you decide to have them implanted?”

“I… ah. I have to make a deposit. And probably find someone to carry the baby… babies? I don’t even know.”

“Do you have to decide today?” Casey asked.

Severide took a deep breath as his gaze drifted. “No. I… I have a week.”

“So maybe think about it?” Casey suggested. “Don’t make a decision today.”

“Yeah. Yeah, I’ll do that.” Kelly started to add something, but the warning siren went off and both men turned as the dispatcher said, “Engine 81. Squad 3. Ambulance 61. House fire at 65th and South Union.”

The two men turned, running for their respective trucks. “Think about it!” Casey yelled across to Severide as they scrambled into their gear.

“I will!” Severide yelled back. He hauled himself into the truck and came face to face with a staring squad. “What?”

“Think about what, Lieutenant?” Capp asked.

“About whether we should do competition drills,” Severide replied flippantly. “So, make me proud or you’ll be running drills.”

The squad jeered as Tony took a corner, pulling up in front of the fire.

“Make me proud,” Severide said as he bailed out of the squad truck, walking over to where Casey and Boden were standing. “What’ve we got?” he asked.

Severide looked every time the door to the coffee shop opened, but the person he was looking for still hadn’t materialized. Taking a sip of his coffee, he checked his phone again. He knew he’d called her at the last minute, but he was sure he’d given her enough time.

“You looking for someone?” a voice behind him asked.

He stood, turning almost immediately, and enfolding the red-head standing there in a hug. “Kat, it’s good to see you.”

She chuckled, patting his face before sitting in the chair he pulled out for her. “I have to say I was surprised to hear from you.”

“Yeah. Well, I’m sorry about that.” Severide took his own seat. “I wasn’t in a good place for a while after Shay… well, after Shay. But thank you for agreeing to meet with me.”

“I said I was surprised, not unhappy. So, what’s going on?”

“You want a coffee or something?” he offered.

“Nope. Not until you tell me why you called me out of the blue.”

Severide wrapped his hands around his mug. “I got a call yesterday that really threw me. The clinic… the clinic Shay and I went to called. They still have her eggs.”

“I thought…” Kat shook her head. “Never mind. So, what happens? Who makes the decision about what happens to them?”

“I do,” he answered quietly. “Because I was involved. Because that was what Shay wanted… I have to make the decision.”

“And did you?”

He reached across the table, taking her hand. “I know we don’t always see eye to eye, but I’ve always trusted you. Shay and I both trusted you. I loved… love her. And when she asked me to have a baby with her… I’ve never wanted anything more. It might not have happened when we wanted. But I’ve got another chance now and I think it’s what Shay would have wanted. And this would give us a piece of Shay back. The question is, Kat, will you help me?”

“How can I help you?”

“If I go through with this, I need a surrogate.”

She studied him for a minute before nodding. “Yes.”

Severide breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you.”

“Now how about you buy me a coffee? Since it sounds like I won’t be drinking many in the coming months.”

“I can do that.” He turned, signally for the waitress and the two settled in to catch up.

“Hey, you doing anything after shift today?” Severide asked Casey as they walked away from the trucks two days later.

“I was going to do some demo on a house, but I can put it off. Why?”

They stopped in the hallway, facing each other. “I need to go to the clinic,” Severide admitted. “I’ve made my decision.”

“Yeah? Okay. Yeah if you want the company,” Casey said.

“Thanks. But listen. Keep this between us until I find out something for certain.”

Casey nodded. “Yeah. No problem.”

“Thanks,” Severide said. “Nine am. Okay?”

Casey tossed off a lazy salute. “Aye. Aye.”

Severide smiled, shaking his head at his fellow lieutenant before walking away.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The fabulous (and talented) kitkat0723 made me some graphics to go alone with this story. I've posted three on tumblr, but I'm saving one for later in the story. Hope you enjoy the next chapter.

Severide pushed the door to the clinic open and looked around the waiting room. Casey paused just behind him. “Are we…?” he asked, only to be interrupted by a woman standing up.

“Kelly,” she said with a smile. Moving across the room, she wrapped her arms around his waist.

Severide enfolded her in a hug before releasing her and smiling. “Thanks for agreeing to do this.” He motioned at Casey. “This is my friend, Matt Casey.”

The red-head smiled, holding a hand out to Casey. “Hi, nice to meet you.” She eyed Severide for a moment. “Something I need to know, Kel?”

Severide rolled his eyes. “No. He’s a co-worker and a friend.”

“So… moral support,” she decided.

“Thought you were my moral support,” he teased.

“Nope. I’m just your incubator,” she replied.

“Incubator?” Casey asked.

“Ah, Kat agreed to be the surrogate, assuming we can still go ahead with this,” Severide explained.

A woman stepped out of the back office, calling, “Shay?”

Severide stood up, raising his hand with a finger extended. “It’s… ah… Severide actually.”

The nurse nodded, looking down to make a note on the iPad she held. “Come with me, Mr. Severide.”

“Guess that’s our cue,” Kat said, getting to her feet again.

The nurse eyed the group, but clearly shrugged it off, and led the way to an office. “Dr. Simmons will be with you soon.”

“Thanks,” Severide said. He was glad to recognize the name of the doctor. It was the same one that had taken care of Shay.

Casey leaned against the wall while Severide and Kat took seats in the chairs in front of the desk. A minute later, the office door opened and a stately African-American woman entered. “Kelly,” she greeted Severide. “And friends.”

“It’s good to see you, Doc,” Severide responded. “These are friends of mine and Shay’s. Matt Casey and Kat Robinson.”

“Nice to meet you both.” She turned her full attention to Severide. “How much did the nurse explain to you?”

“She said that Shay’s eggs were found during inventory and a decision had to be made about what was done with them. That since we lost Shay, the decision falls to me.”

The doctor nodded. “Correct. That’s where we are now. You have three options.”

Kelly stopped her. “The nurse already told me my options. And I’ve made my decision.”

Simmons steepled her fingers in front of her face. “And you’re sure of your decision?”

“I am.” Severide shifted in his seat. “It was what Shay wanted. It’s what I _want_.” He indicated Kat seated next to him. “Kat’s willing to be a surrogate.” He took a deep breath. “I wanna try again for a baby.”

“All right,” the doctor agreed. “Are you ready today? Both of you?”

“Whatever I need to do,” Kat agreed.

“Let’s get you in for some testing. And, Kelly, you’ll need to do some tests and then we’ll take the deposit.” She looked at Kat. “Depending on where you are in your cycle, we’ll get ready for the implantation. We’re only going to get one chance at this.”

“So, two weeks?” Casey asked as he and Severide headed towards the darker haired man’s car.

“Little bit less,” Severide agreed. “They’re gonna let the embryos grow a little bit before they do the implantation.”

“You ready for this?”

Severide gripped the steering wheel tightly before relaxing. Casey watched him patiently as he made up his mind what he was going to say. “When Shay asked me… I put her off at first. But the more I thought about it, the readier I was. Shay and I were never going to be more than friends, but that baby? That would have been ours. And it was enough for me. To have that chance again? The only thing I want more is to actually have Shay back.”

Matt clapped him on the shoulder. “You know 51 will have your back.”

“Wouldn’t want it any different,” Severide agreed.

Severide knocked on the doorjamb to the chief’s office. “Ya got a minute, Chief?”

Boden looked up from his paperwork, removing his glasses, and looking at Severide. “Can I help you, Lieutenant?”

“I was just at the clinic--that Shay and I were using? --the other day. Um, her eggs were still viable.” He took a deep breath. “I’ve got a surrogate and I’m gonna try again for a baby.”

“Are you sure that’s wise?”

“It was what Shay wanted. And it may not have been her dying wish, but I want to try this.”

The chief leaned back in his chair, studying Severide. “I think this would be good for you. You’ve moved on as much as you can from Shay, but I think having someone else in your life will be good for you.” He leaned forward again. “But I’d like to ask you to do something for me and him or her.”

“What?”

“Therapy. I think it’s the best thing for you and these future kid or kids.”

Severide propped his hands on his knees. “I don’t…”

“Kelly, I won’t make it an order, but I will encourage it.”

“I’ll consider it,” Severide answered.

At that moment, the bell rang, ending their conversation.


	3. Chapter 3

Severide’s phone rang just as Squad pulled into the station. “Hey, Kat. How’d it go?”

“Kelly Severide, in nine months you are gonna be a daddy. How does that make you feel?”

It took a moment and then he grinned. “It was positive?”

“It was _very_ positive! I’m pregnant!”

Unable to help himself, Severide let out a whoop. Swinging out of the truck, he called over to Casey, “She’s pregnant! The test was positive!”

Casey quickly crossed the few feet of floor between them and pulled Severide into a hug. Slapping him on the back, Casey said, “Congratulations on the news!”

Distantly Severide could hear yelling and he looked down to realize he hadn’t hung up the phone. Quickly he brought it back to his ear, saying, “Sorry, Kat. Text me the details on your doctor appointments, okay?”

“Okay. Go celebrate. I’m gonna get started on being fat.”

He laughed as he hung up.

“Severide, did you knock up some poor girl?” Cruz asked from where he stood.

“No, I…” Severide stopped as he realized he hadn’t shared what was going on with the rest of 51. He took a deep breath. “The eggs are Shay’s. The clinic contacted me and, with the help of a friend, I’m trying again.”

There was a moment of silence, then the hubbub poured over him as all of 51 tried to give their congratulations at once.

“Okay, Mom and Dad. We ready?” The tech looked at Severide. “How ya doing, Dad?”

“Good,” Severide answered with a smile. The smile hid the fact that his insides were rolling.

“And Mom? We ready for this?”

“Ah, not Mom,” Kat said. She glanced up at Severide. “Just a friend helping out.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry. Will Mom be joining us?”

Severide shook his head. “No, we… um… lost her.”

“Cancer?” the tech questioned softly.

“Building collapse.”

“Um, okay.” Despite the sympathy in her voice, there was also confusion.

“She was a paramedic,” Severide explained. “She went out in the line of duty.” When Kat squeezed his hand, he smiled down at her.

“I’m sorry. Why don’t we see how this baby of yours is doing?”

Kat gasped as the gel was spread across her stomach. Severide gripped her hand more tightly immediately. “Everything okay?”

“‘S just cold,” Kat responded. She pointed towards the screen as an image appeared on it. “Look!”

Severide’s grin widened as he took in the view.

“Wanna hear the heartbeat?” the tech asked.

He nodded quickly. “Yes.” She flipped a switch and a whooshing sound filled the room. After a minute, Severide’s smile faded and turned into a frown. “Does that sound right?”

The tech moved the wand, frowning herself. “I’m… gonna go get the doctor.”

Kat looked up at Severide as the woman hurried from the room. “I’m sure it’s nothing. Maybe just a glitch in the machine.”

“Yeah… I’m sure,” Kelly said, but he didn’t sound convinced.

Before he could get too concerned, Doctor Simmons hurried in. “Hello, Kelly, Kat,” she greeted them as she moved to pick up the wand and started another view. “I hear you had some concerns?”

“The heartbeat didn’t sound right,” Severide said.

“That’s because... “ Simmons moved the wand as if making sure of what she’d found. “It’s not one heartbeat, it’s two.”

“Two? Twins? How… How is that possible?” Kelly felt the bottom drop out of his stomach. _Twins_?!

Simmons clicked some buttons on the ultrasound before saying, “Twins are very common in surrogacy and IVF.”

Kelly laughed. “I was _not_ expecting twins.”

“Bad thing?” Kat asked as she accepted the towel and began to wipe off her stomach.

“No. Surprising. Astonishing. I totally need to rethink a few things. But this will be great.”

Kat patted his shoulder. “Don’t try to convince yourself too soon.”

Simmons smiled. “Well, you’ve got time to figure things out. You’re only two months into this. We’ll keep a good eye on Kat here and make sure she doesn’t go into labor early.”

“Is that a possibility?” Severide asked.

“It’s more likely with twins, but we’ll keep an eye on things,” Simmons assured him. “For now. Everything looks good. And… these are for you.” She handed over some slips of paper.

“What are these?” Severide wanted to know. 

“Sonogram pictures. Your babies’ first photos.”

Severide studied them for a minute before saying, “I’ll take your word for it. Looks like a blob to me.”

“Next time we should be able to see more,” Simmons told him. “See Claire on your way out to make an appointment.”

He helped Kat down from the examination table. “Could we not have that tech?” she asked.

Simmons frowned. “What happened?”

“She was asking questions about Shay,” Kat explained. “Invasive questions.”

“I’ll make sure she isn’t assigned to you again.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm sorry about not updating this more regularly. I went back to work and school and things are a bit chaotic. I have more of this written, but I'm probably not going to have a regular posting schedule. In addition to my regular (work is difficult even when I'm not teaching virtually, two grad school classes, and my part time job--which is actually the easiest of everything), I'm working on some original fiction. When I can say more, I shall.
> 
> Meanwhile enjoy this chapter and I'll be back soonish with some more. I'm also officially making this a series since I have some time stamps mostly done. And I have an entire LIST of time stamps to write.

When Casey got to the house that evening, Severide was sitting on the couch with his laptop in front of him. “Hey, what’re you looking at?” Casey asked, heading to the fridge for beers.

“Well, I went to the doctor’s with Kat today and got some news.”

“Nothing’s wrong, is it?” Casey handed Severide a beer as he sat down on the couch.

“Well, no. But yes.” Severide took a drink of beer, leaning back on the couch. “It’s twins.”

Casey choked on the sip he’d just taken. “I’m sorry, what?” he asked once he’d stopped coughing.

“Apparently it’s very common with surrogacy. So yeah. Twins. Two babies.”

“Wow. So… what are you going to do?”

“I mean it’s a shock. But I have time.” He motioned to the computer. “I was looking for a new place. I need at least three bedrooms, I’d rather have four.” He rubbed his head. “I just don’t know where to start.”

“Well, it wouldn’t be the first time I looked for a house. Why don’t you give me some specs and I’ll put out some feelers. I assume you want to be near 51?” When Severide nodded, Casey continued, “And you don’t have to find something perfect. We can always do work on the place.”

Severide tossed a pad of paper at him. “Those were my thoughts. So far.”

Casey looked it over. “Okay, yeah, I can work with this. We could start looking around the hospital and then move towards the station.”

“Decent schools, Casey. I don’t want to be moving again in five years when these two are ready for school.”

Casey waved the pad at him. “It’s on your list.”

Over the next several weeks, Casey found (and Severide rejected) at least a dozen houses. One had too many stairs. One was built too close to the street. Another was too far from 51. Another had no basement access from the inside.

Casey was beginning to feel like he’d never find a house that fit Severide’s requirements.

Then he found _the_ house. It was in Avalon Park, which had a decent school. It was ten minutes from the station. It was three stories with three bedrooms on the middle floor and a larger area on the third that could be either a bedroom or a play area. The previous owner had already started remodeling the basement and it would be easy to turn into a home gym.

Now Casey just had to convince Severide.

“I really don’t want to spend another day off looking at a house I’m going to reject,” Severide said as they got coffee.

“You’re the one who wanted to get a house,” Casey pointed out.

“Fine.” Severide pointed at him. “But this is the last one.”

“Fine,” Casey agreed. He knew it was the house for Severide since it fit all the anal retentive requirements that he’d been given. But that didn’t mean Severide wouldn’t find something wrong with the house.

Severide stepped into the house and immediately knew Casey had finally hit the jackpot. He turned to see Casey behind him. “So what are your thoughts?”

“We would start with finishing out the open floor plan they started. Gut the kitchen and bathrooms and bring them into the current time period. The master takes up half the second floor and we can easily make the other two bedrooms into nurseries. Finish off the basement and move your weights in there; make sure there’s an area for the babies to be.”

Severide nodded, ducking around the half-wall to look at the kitchen. “Appliances look new,” he commented.

“They are.” Casey leaned against the counter. “Owner decided to put them in for the sale.”

Severide nodded to the exposed brick on the walls. “I like the look, but I feel like it wouldn’t be good with kids.”

“We can glass that in. Leave it so you can see it, but the kids can’t bang themselves on it.”

“Glass?”

“Well, plexie.”

The front door opened and a voice called out, “Yoohoo!” The voice was followed by a bottle blonde woman who looked older than both the firemen. “So,” she said as she joined them at the counter. “What do you think?”

“There’s a lot of work that needs to be done,” Severide commented, pushing off the counter and going over to one of the cabinets. When he pulled on the door, the handle came off in his hand. “For instance.” He had noticed the handle was hanging loose, but hadn’t expected it to come off in his hand.

“I’m sure that could be fixed,” she said.

“How much wiggle room is there on the price?” Casey asked, drawing her attention away from Severide, who was poking through the cupboards.

“Well, they seemed pretty firm at first, but this house has been on the market for about a year…”

Casey raised his eyebrows. “How much?”

“We can probably get as much as ten thousand knocked off the price,” she said.

“Gonna take close to fifty or better to get it up to where it’d be livable for us,” Severide commented.

She waved her hand around the kitchen. “There are a few minor repairs that would need to be done, but I don’t see how it’s not livable for two strong men such as yourselves.”

Casey waffled over commenting, but Severide jumped right in. “It’s not the two of us, although Casey’ll probably do most of the work. The house is for me and my family. And it doesn’t work for young children.”

“Well, I’m sure your wife is appreciative that you’re picking a house for her,” she tried.

“It’ll just be me and the kids,” he answered shortly. “Casey?” He left the other man to smooth the realtor’s feathers as he examined the backyard (small, but reasonably sized for the area and big enough for a swingset in a few years). The deck would have to be ripped out and rebuilt so it was up to code… it looked like it had been slapped on as an afterthought. Re-entering the kitchen, he looked around the weird half-walls, until he found the stairs and headed up them.

Casey was right, the master was more than he needed, taking up one side of the house with the included master bath. It would be easy to put bassients in the room when the twins were small and still have plenty of space. He poked his head into the other two bedrooms. A little paint and some decorations and they could easily be the perfect bedrooms for the twins. Casey was correct that the bathroom needed to be updated, but once it was, it would be more than serviceable for the twins.

Taking the stairs to the top floor, he found a big open area. For now he’d probably leave it alone, but there was the possibility to frame in rooms for the twins when they were older… if they wanted.

He made his way back down to the lower level. “We can work it out,” he said as soon as he found the realtor and Casey. “It’s under budget, especially if you get that ten grand knocked off. And I can take more for updates and upgrades to make the house livable for me and the twins.”

“I’ll need you to sign some papers for the offer. And we’ll get the ball rolling.”

Just a couple of weeks later, Severide was signing the papers to take possession of the house. He’d gotten more than he needed knocked off the price and with Casey’s help, he could get the house updated without going broke.

Casey looked up from where he was restocking the side compartment of the truck as Severide walked into the fire house. “How’d it go?” he asked.

Severide let the keys dangle from his hand, grinning. “How soon can we go knock out some walls?” he responded.

“I’ve got Thursday and Friday off. Does that work for you?” Casey asked.

“Works. Want me to round up a couple other guys?”

“Yeah. We’re gonna need help ripping everything out.”

Severide nodded, waving to Dawson and Brett as he walked towards the locker room.

Less than ten minutes later, he was dropping into his chair at the squad table. “What’re you boys doing for your days off?”

“You got a job for us, LT?” Capp asked.

Severide held up the keys. “Need some guys to help with demolition.”

Mills hooted. “You closed on the house!”

Smiling and nodding, Severide agreed, “I closed. And now I have two bathrooms to rip out, some walls to knock down, and maybe some other stuff.”

“What time do you want us there?” Mills asked.

“Let’s say nine?” Severide suggested as the alarm went off. “I’ll send you guys the address later.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry I've kept y'all waiting for so long. I finished two stories for anthologies and have almost gotten through another semester of grad school. We're hitting the crazy part of the year (end of semester for both me and the kiddos) so I'll probably post a couple chapters tonight and then I'll be back during my fall break or winter break.

Thursday morning, Severide got up early and went for a run before heading over to the new house. As he stepped inside for the first time as the owner, he felt a feeling of contentment wash over him, a feeling of settlement. He walked slowly through the lower floor, trailing his fingers along the half walls that would soon be demolished. He’d already spoken with Casey about adding attractive pillars to support the second and third floor. They wouldn’t limit his sightlines like the half walls would, unless the twins figured out how to hide behind them. And he wasn’t putting that past them once they got big enough.

He wasn’t sure what the reasoning behind the half walls had been, but he would enjoy taking a sledge to them. Stepping out the back door, he felt the deck move under his feet and knew they’d be knocking that down as soon as possible. He was glad the yard had already been fenced in so he’d just have to make sure the fence was solid.

“Severide?” the call from the front of the house had him hurrying back out.

“Where should we start?” he asked as Casey shut the door behind himself.

“Well, once the team gets here, we can start on the kitchens and the bathrooms, but for now…” the other man paused as he looked around. “Knock out these half walls?”

“Sounds good.” As they moved to pick up the sledgehammers and choose a wall, he commented, “I stepped out onto deck this morning and the whole thing shifted under my feet.”

“We can look at shoring it up or depending on the budget, we can rip it down.”

“I’d rather rip it down if we can,” Severide commented. He looked at Casey, who’d positioned himself at the half wall partway across the room. Severide had picked the kitchen wall to tackle first. “Ready?”

“One. Two.” On three both men swung their sledgehammers, putting good sized holes in both of the walls. Severide raised his sledgehammer over his head bringing it down on the top of the wall. It almost completely shattered under his blow.

Casey looked over from where he was systematically taking apart his wall. “That… should not have done that.”

“Guess it’s a good thing we’re taking them down,” Severide commented.

“Yeah. Let’s make sure there’s no rot in it.”

Severide kicked at the wood and wallboard. “Doesn’t look like it, but you’d know better than me.”

“Take the rest of the wall down and we’ll look before we haul it out.”

“Mmmhmm.” Severide swung the hammer again, knocking down a corner of the wall that hadn’t fallen. “Think we’re gonna have to replace these floors?”

Casey came over, kicking some of the destroyed wall away. “I don’t think we’ll have to replace them, but we’ll need to sand them and might need to patch some places.”

Severide shrugged. “I’d rather not pull up the floor so if we can get away with just repairing…”

Casey toed the floor again. “It’s solid enough.” He looked up as the door swung open, allowing most of Squad Three to pour into the house.

“You started without us,” Mills commented as they began poking around the main room.

Capp kicked at one of the still standing walls. “What are we doing?”

Casey indicated the half walls. “Walls come down. Kitchen needs to be gutted. All three bathrooms need to be gutted. The deck needs to be dismantled.”

“Water off?” Mills asked, poking his head into the three-quarter bath off to the side. “Whoa… that is some… retro goin’ on in there.”

Severide poked his head in. “That’s the normal-ish looking one. The master is avocado green… and not the rind color. The hall bath upstairs is pink.” He made a face. “Reminds me of pepto bismol.”

“Where do you want us to start?” Mills asked.

“Start ripping out the kitchen,” Casey said.

“Water off?” Mills asked again, even as the men moved into the assigned room.

“Should be,” Casey commented, looking up from where he was checking the walls they had knocked down. He kicked some of the wallboard out of the way and headed for another wall. There were six in total that needed to be taken out. “Check it before you knock anything out.”

Severide moved back to the walls, taking his place along the set of walls that he’d started. He planned to work through all of them, before heading into the bathroom and doing what he could in there. Next to him, Casey was going through the other set of walls. Between swings, he commented, “I’m really not sure what these walls were for.”

“Seperation,” Casey replied. “Looks like they tried to define the kitchen, dining room, and living room with them.”

“All I see is an escape hazard if the place catches on fire,” Severide responded.

“Well, there is that,” Casey agreed.


	6. Chapter 6

A while later, the men had stripped off their shirts and were heaving pieces of the kitchen into the dumpster. The walls were no more, piles of scrap on the floors that Casey had deemed only needed to be refurbished. Half the bathroom was gone, they just needed to disconnect the toilet.

Severide surveyed the room. “It’s already looking better,” he commented.

“How bad was it before?” a female voice asked from the door.

Severide spun around, then hurried over to the door, holding his arm out to the red-head. “What are you doing here, Kat?” he asked as he guided her into the house.

“I wanted to see where you were planning on bringing the babies,” she said, resting a hand on her stomach.

He nodded, motioning for the others to get back to work. Offering Kat his arm again, he guided her around the downstairs, pointing out where they’d removed walls and fixtures. She asked questions about his plans, poking at the piles of debris they hadn’t moved yet. Severide steered her away from the holes they had made pulling out the toilet and other fixtures in the bathroom. “Come on, I’ll take you upstairs,” he offered.

Upstairs she poked into each of the bedrooms. “Doesn’t look like you need to do much up here,” she commented.

He shifted from where he’d been leaning against the wall. “Gut the bathrooms and modernize them. Rip up the carpets and redo the floors. I’m gonna leave the top floor for now. Figure out what to do with it later. Probably use it for the nanny for a while so we’ll make sure it looks nice.”

“It’s a good plan,” she commented. “Nice place.” She rubbed her stomach. “Are you going to have it finished before the twins arrive?”

“It’s the plan,” he answered, motioning for her to head back down the stairs. “So far it looks like it’ll work. I’ve got enough help for now.”

“Have fun with your destruction,” she called as she headed towards the front door. “I’m gonna go home and eat.” She poked at Severide’s side when he got close to her. “Dinner? Tomorrow night?”

“Sure,” he agreed easily. “Why don’t you come over and I’ll cook?”

“I demand steak,” she informed him to the laughter of the others as she walked out the door.

“You lettin’ her demand food, Luientant?” Mills asked as Severide shut the door after he’d watched her get in her car.

“Hey, she’s carrying my babies… she can demand pretty much anything she wants,” Severide replied. He motioned towards the stairs. “Wanna start ripping out that rug?”

Good naturedly, Capp and Mills headed towards the stairs, still calling nonsense at Severide.

Casey was looking around for a place to put the blueprints since they had ripped out all the counter space. Severide stepped lightly onto the back porch, grabbed the table, and set it in the middle of what had been the kitchen. “Table,” he told Casey.

“Thanks,” Casey said as he spread out the blueprints. “This is what I came up with from our discussions.”

Severide bent over the blueprints to look them over.

Severide had just enough time to shower and change when he got back to the apartment from finishing most of the demo at the house the next day. They’d ripped out everything, but the main bath on the second floor which meant they had completed almost all the demo. But they still needed to rip out the last bath. They’d even ripped off the back porch. If everything went according to plan, they’d be able to put a new three-quarters bath on the top floor. He made a mental note to see about putting his current apartment on the market. He’d need to wait until the house was a bit more livable first.

He was just sliding the steaks into the oven when he heard a rapid knock on the door. “It’s open!” he called, assuming correctly that it was Kat.

Coming into the apartment and shutting the door behind her, Kat waddled over to where Severide was standing. He leaned over and pressed a kiss to her cheek. “How are you feeling?”

“Hungry.” She patted her stomach. “Your babies want me to eat. All. The. Time.”

“Well, I’ll feed you for sure tonight. Steaks as ordered. Bacon wrapped asparagus. And macaroni and cheese since I know you love that.”

“Velveeta?” she asked.

“Would I serve you anything else?” He motioned towards the couch. “Go sit until dinner’s ready.”

“If I sit on that couch, I’m never getting up again.”

“You aren’t _that_ far along.”

“Twins, Kelly. _Twins_. I’m blowing up twice as fast.” She eased down onto one of the chairs at the table. “I’m gonna be huge by the time these two arrive.”

“And beautiful,” he assured her. “And you’re doing something…”

“Save your flattery, Severide,” she told him. “I wasn’t interested in you before this and I’m sure not gonna be after.”

He grinned. “I always knew I wasn’t your type.”

“Yeah, I mostly prefer them blonde and about half the time with boobs.”

He chuckled as he checked the asparagus and turned the steaks. “Did Shay know that?”

“Course she did.” Kat inhaled deeply. “God that smells good.”

“Almost done. You want water? Ice tea? I might even have some juice.”

“Juice if you have it. As long as it isn’t that funky ass guava shit you had the other day.”

He ducked into the fridge, coming back out with a bottle. “Regular apple juice.”

“Sounds good.”

Severide poured her juice and grabbed himself a beer. After setting them on the table, he moved over to pull the food out of the oven and plate it.

Kat dug in as soon as he set the plate in front of her, moaning lightly at the flavor. “You need to cook for me all the time,” she said after she’d demolished a quarter of her steak.

“Yeah. I don’t need that to get out.”

Kat laughed and they shifted the conversation to other subjects as they ate. When they finished, he cleared the plates and brought over a bowl of strawberries and a container of whipped cream. Kat immediately made grabby hands towards them and he dished up a bowl of strawberries for her, settling into the chair across from her. He pushed the whipped cream towards her and she dug in. “You know I’m already carrying your babies. You don’t need to butter me up more.”

Severide spun his beer bottle in his hand, watching her dig into her strawberries. “I did actually want to ask you something.”

“I’m not sure I want to agree to anything else.” She indicated her rounded belly. “I wasn’t planning on twins.”

He barked a short laugh. “Neither was I.” Settling the bottle down solid, he continued, “I’ve been thinking a lot about what Shay would have wanted, what I want.” He reached out and stopped the motion of her spoon. “Will you be one of the twins’ godparents?”

For a second, she just stared at him before smiling. “Absolutely,” she said. “I’d be honored.”

“I don’t want you to lose contact with them after they’re born,” he said. “You’ll have had them for nine months…”

Kat started, then her eyes widened. Severide got to his feet, but she put a hand to her stomach, then smiled. “They moved. Or well one of them did.”

He motioned towards her stomach and she nodded, taking his hand and guiding it towards the right spot. He frowned when he didn’t feel anything. “Sure it wasn’t just gas?”

“Be patient,” she informed him. After a minute, she said, “There!” When she looked up, Severide’s eyes were shining.

“Thank you,” he whispered.


	7. Chapter 7

“I don’t _need_ a baby shower,” Severide insisted as he walked into the firehouse with Casey and two other members of their shift. “I’m not a girl.”

“So you’re going to get everything the babies need?” Casey asked.

“I’ll figure it out.” Severide spied Dawson walking across the apparatus floor and called, “Hey, Dawson. I need to talk to you.”

As he walked away to catch up with the paramedic, one of the other men turned to Casey. “We’re not going to let him get away with that, right?” he asked.

“Not at all.”

Severide took Dawson’s arm, guiding her into one of the empty conference rooms. “Should I be worried?” she asked. “Everything okay with Kat and the babies?”

“Yeah,” he calmed her down. “Everything is fine. I just had a question.”

Dawson leaned a hip on the table, looking encouragingly at him. “What’s up?”

“I’m asking for Shay,” he began. “I’d like… I’d like you to be the twins’ other godmother.”

Dawson smiled widely. “Of course!” she agreed, stepping forward and giving him a quick hug. “Who did you already ask?”

“Kat,” he answered. “I’m going to ask Casey later to be one of the godfathers. And I’m waiting for my cousin to call me back.”

“That’s great,” she encouraged. “I won’t say anything until you talk to Matt.”

“Thank you. And thank you for agreeing, I know it would make Shay happy.”

She squeezed his arm. “I think this is a great thing you’re doing.”

“Thanks, Dawson.”

“So. You ready for this?” she asked.

“Yes, but also no way in hell,” he answered. “I mean the physical stuff? I can do that no problem, but having someone rely on me?” He looked down, then met her gaze again. “I don’t know what I was thinking.”

“You were thinking that you loved Shay,” she saw his wince at their friend’s name, “and you knew she wanted a baby… a baby with you.” Dawson put a hand on his arm. “And it gives you… us… a way to have a small part of Shay back with us.”

Severide gathered her into his arms, wrapping his arm around her neck as they hugged. “Thank you.”

“Any time. And, hey, it’s not like you’re gonna be raising these babies alone.” She indicated the station. “All of 51 will help.”

Casey poked his head into the room. “Should I be worried?” he asked, when he noticed Severide’s arms still wrapped around Dawson.

Severide chuckled as Dawson wiggled out of his arms and crossed the room to kiss Casey briefly. “Nope. Just having a baby conversation.”

He looked confused for a minute, but decided it wasn’t worth addressing. “You better change before we get called out,” he said to Severide.

“Sure.” Severide clapped Casey on the shoulder. “If we get a moment, can we chat in the office?”

“As long as it’s not how you’re planning to woo my wife away from me,” Casey answered.

“Your wife would love some wooing,” Dawson said. “But not from Kelly.” She sashayed out of the room, patting Casey on the cheek as she passed him.

“I’m not even sure what to do with that,” Casey commented after she was out of sight.

“Maybe woo your wife?” Severide commented as he left the room.

“Woo? My…?” Casey was interrupted by Herrmann joining him and asking a question. “What?” Casey said when he didn’t hear it.

Severide smiled all the way to the locker room.

Casey looked up from his paperwork as Severide wandered into their office later, dropping on the bed and settling his feet on top of the footboard. Casey eyed him, but didn’t say anything for a minute. “What did you want?” he finally asked when Severide didn’t say anything for a few minutes.

“So.” Severide sat up, swinging his feet to the floor. “I appreciate all the help you’ve been giving me with the house.”

“It’s not a problem,” Casey said. “I’m enjoying it.”

“Good. It’s coming together well. But I had another question for you.”

Casey turned to face him fully. “Another favor?”

“In a way, yeah. My twins already have two godmothers,” he said. “I’d like you to be one of their godfathers.”

Casey stared at him for a moment, then grinned. “Yeah. Yes. Absolutely.” He stood up, clasping hands with Severide. “I’m honored, man.”

“Good. Now. Take your wife out on a nice date. She deserves it.”

As Severide strolled out of the station, with a group of squad and truck men, his phone rang. Glancing at it, he waved the group off. “Hey, Buck,” he answered it once they were out of earshot.

“Hey, Kels, I saw you called, but I didn’t figure you wanted me calling back in the middle of the night,” his cousin’s voice was clear over the line, content, but tired sounding.

Severide made a face at his childhood nickname. “Engh, it would have been fine,” Severide answered. “I was on shift and we were in and out all night.”

“We had a pretty quiet shift. Is everything all right?”

“Everything’s great. Although I think Kat’s going to kill me before the babies are born. She’s _huge_!” Severide chuckled. “But I did have a question for you.”

“Sure.” There was some noise on the other end of the call and Buck said, “Hang on a minute.” He waited while his cousin had a short, whispered conversation with someone and then he heard, “I’ll see you at home, Eds.” A minute later, Buck said to him, “What’s going on?”

“Who’s Eds?” he asked instead of asking the question he’d intended.

“Never mind,” Buck replied. “What’s going on?”

Severide filed the information away to question Buck about later and said, “My babies need a second godfather. You interested?”

“What? Are you serious? Yes, of course!”

Chuckling at the excitement in Buck’s voice, Severide said, “Great. I’ll give you the details as soon as they get arranged.”

“Awesome! Okay, I’ve got to get home.”

“To ‘Eds’?” Severide teased.

“I’m not even going to dignify that with a reply.”

“You just did. I wanna know all about ‘Eds’ the next time we talk. Or you could just give me a full name and I’ll have a friend run him.”

“You will _not_ ,” Buck responded. “Good-bye.”

Still laughing, Severide said, “Good-bye” just before Buck hung up. He’d find some other way to get the information. He could always call the 118 and talk to Captain Nash under the guise of checking up on his cousin.


End file.
